It is reasonable to assume that, by 1968, the capacity of the four Beatles to be shocked by the scale of their success had been reduced somewhat, if only to preserve a semblance of sanity. But if you were to tell them that their demos, discarded ideas, studio badinage, and even food orders (George was a cheese, Marmite and lettuce sandwich man, who knew?) would amount to one of 2018's most anticipated releases, even they might have been startled. But here we are - following the success of last year's Sgt Pepper's remix-plus-outtakes package, Apple have ransacked the vaults for a set comprising a version of "The White Album" remixed by Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell, a disc of home recordings (the majority of which previously circulated on murky bootlegs as The Esher Demos), and three discs collecting the most notable outtakes from the album sessions.

By the time the Beatles reconvened to record the follow-up to Sgt. Pepper, they had already begun to splinter, with each member doggedly pursuing a musical vision that didn't necessarily jibe with the others'. Nor did it jibe with what the group achieved on their groundbreaking 1967 album. If the Beatles were consciously trying to distance themselves from the layered, whimsical sound of Sgt.